


Kingdom Hearts: The First Thirteen

by Prospero101



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 06:35:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15528288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prospero101/pseuds/Prospero101
Summary: Before the events of Kingdom Hearts 1, a new Nobody's journey to become whole again sets him squarely in the sights of Organization XIII. Between armies of Heartless, the machinations of Disney villains, and the conspiracies of his cloaked cohorts, Xylonn's quest for a heart proves even more complicated than it first appears.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Set sometime between Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Kingdom Hearts 1. The Organization's plan is long and far-reaching, and requires more than just a Keyblade wielder. Xylonn was XIII before the necessity of a Keyblade for the plan was necessary, and the circumstances of his departure, well...where's the fun in spoilers?

Prologue

_Dive to the Heart_

 

Falling.

He’d long ago given up keeping track of how long he’d been falling. He drifted along in a listless, dreamless sleep. In this in-between, this not-place, he was bereft of self and bereft of thought. It was comforting in a way. His heart had caused him no end of anxiety. Maybe the nothingness would be a worthwhile alternative to the pitfalls of living?

A flash of light proved him wrong in an instant. For the first time in this endless age of falling, he found himself falling toward something. He alighted softly on the surface, feeling the reassuring solidity under his feet as he tested his balance.

When he landed, the light expanded, showing him standing on a platform in the middle of the endless void. On the platform was a stained-glass image of himself. In the image he looked the opposite of how he felt: standing tall and proud, swords gleaming at the ready. But the platform itself was damaged. It was pockmarked with craters and cracks. A full two-thirds of it was missing entirely.

Before he could marvel too much at his surroundings, a voice drifted across his stirring consciousness.

_This is all that remains of you. Incomplete. Nothing and Nobody._

He opened his mouth to retort, to ask who the hell this being was and why it called him names. But the truth of that statement reverberated through the gnawing emptiness inside him.

He put a hand on his chest. “I know.”

_But you found your way here. That is a miracle by itself. We will need many more to make you whole again._

He looked up into the inky black void, willing it to form into a face he could match to the voice. “Who are you? Why do you care?”

_I am the beacon of light in the darkness. I’m here to guide you to the door._

With another flash of light, an ornate set of double doors appeared, floating in the void across the distance where the part of the platform was missing.

A mighty, urgent sense of need struck him, the first feeling to rattle around his hollow insides since he began his fall. He needed whatever was behind that door.

_Behind that door is your destiny. And destiny is something never left to chance. That is why there is still hope for you._

Without realizing it, he’d reached out toward the door. Now he clenched his fist and lowered his arm. “What do I have to do?”

_Find that which has been lost. Return it to where it belongs. Only then can we open the door._

As the voice’s last words reverberated through his mind, he felt the platform shift beneath his feet. It tilted and he began to slide. He screamed, scrabbling for purchase, but to no avail. He tumbled off the platform and fell, once more, into darkness.

* * *

Axel hated meeting in Where Nothing Gathers. A bunch of bickering infants shrieking from their high chairs. He certainly cared and believed in what the Organization was planning; he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t. But he wanted to _do_ something to forward their plans, not just talk about it.

He could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but then somebody spoke up. Somebody Axel certainly never would’ve expected to cause a fuss.

Lexaeus - _The Taciturn Stalwart,_ Axel drawled inwardly - spoke up for the first time in the meeting, looking up and addressing the Superior directly. “And how goes the search for Number XIII? Our plans cannot move forward as long as our ranks are incomplete.”

The Superior glared at Lexaeus from under his hood, as if resenting Number V for asking the question...or maybe Axel was just projecting again. “That search is...ongoing.”

“Why, it’s humorous that you should mention that, Lexaeus,” piped up Vexen, the Organization’s Number IV, as well as its most eager beaver. “My scans have detected a Nobody’s recent formation, one of considerable strength of will. One, I think, fitting enough to wear the coat of Number XIII?”

He paused, waiting for somebody to ask him to elaborate. Nobody - heh - did. Axel heard Larxene yawn loudly.

Vexen continued unperturbed. “Naturally it seems to have formed in that gap between light and darkness...specifically, the town which sits on the precipice.”

“And how do we know this one is powerful enough to join our ranks?” asked Xaldin as a breeze from nowhere ruffled his dreadlocks.

“Should I be insulted by your insinuation, Xaldin?” Vexen snapped. His fists clenched on the armrests of his chair. “My scans are immaculate! Infallible, even!”

“As if,” scoffed Xigbar from above the other two. “Probably some pumped-up Dusk. Feeling the heat from the fall, you know how it is.”

“Enough!” The Superior’s suddenly raised voice made everyone visibly flinch. “Someone must investigate Vexen’s scans. Axel, you will go to Twilight Town and administer the test. If this new Nobody passes, I will see to its induction myself.”

Axel rolled his eyes. He’d been expecting this from the moment the conversation started. He leaned back in his chair, idly drumming his fingers on the armrest. “Remind me again why I always get stuck with the icky jobs? Why can’t Flower Boy do it?”

Marluxia’s response was predictably haughty. “Larxene and I are preoccupied. On assignment. From the Superior. As a matter of fact, might we be permitted to resume our duties?”

“Heh. No shirking this time, boyo,” chortled Luxord as he flicked his damn cards. _Always the flicking._

“This meeting is dismissed,” the Superior said, disappearing into a corridor of darkness without further ceremony. The other ten members followed suit, eventually leaving Axel alone.

“Do I hate people, or am I merely _pretending_ to hate people?” Axel asked the empty room. “Ah, who am I kidding.”

With a sigh, he opened a corridor of darkness and stepped inside, making his way toward Twilight Town.


	2. Memories and Ice Cream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a nameless, aimless Nobody becomes Number XIII, Xylonn.

Chapter I

_ Memories and Ice Cream _

 

“Hey buddy, are you okay?”

He returned to consciousness slowly, almost reluctantly. To his surprise, however, his eyes did not open to an endless black void. Instead, three teenagers stood over him, not more than a year or two younger than he. The first was a boy with swept-back blonde hair and a vaguely suspicious expression. The other boy had dark hair, a headband and a more quizzical expression. The third was a girl with brown hair and bright green eyes, who observed him with a look of seemingly genuine concern on her face.

He sat up, causing the other three to step away. It was a simple question...one he was entirely incapable of answering. Best to ignore it. “Yeah, I...was just taking a nap.”

The blonde kid crossed his arms, suspicion growing on his face. “In the middle of the sandlot?”

He blinked, taking a fuller inventory of his surroundings for the first time. It was a wide, open space surrounded by buildings. It had a pleasant feel, with various kids scattered around playing and chatting. Or, at least, he imagined it would be pleasant. 

Before he could respond, the blonde kid broke into a smile and thumbed his nose. “Nah, I’m just kidding. I do that all the time. Name’s Hayner, and this is Pence and Olette.”

“Hello!” said the other boy, presumably Pence.

“Nice to meet you,” said Olette with a little wave.

“You sure you’re okay?” asked Pence, observing him more closely. “You look a little rough.”

“Oh! I bet he needs a pick-me up!” said Olette, who ran off toward a shop without further ado.

* * *

They bought him ice cream. When was the last time he’d had ice cream? He was so preoccupied with staring at it -  _ marveling _ at it - that he hadn’t noticed it start to drip.

“It’s gonna melt,” Pence warned.

‘Oh...sorry.” He lifted the bar to his lips and tasted it. It was salty...yet sweet. A moment’s thought told him he should probably enjoy such a unique flavor, so he did.

They offered him a seat at what they called their “usual spot,” a cozy little space under the train tracks, furnished with mismatched couches and plastered with posters.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around school,” Hayner said from across the room. “You new in town?”

That one, at least, was easy to answer. “Yeah. I’m looking for something.”

“What are you looking for?” asked Olette.

“Um...well, I haven’t figured that out yet.”

“There’s your first step, then!” Hayner said with a little grin.

“Oh!” Pence exclaimed suddenly. “I don’t think you ever told us your name.”

“I didn’t? Sorry.” He took another bite of his rapidly melting ice cream. “I’m ——”

He paused. He said the name. His lips moved and his brain formed the word. But no sound came out. He tried again. “I’m ——”

The other three looked at him for a moment in understandably confused silence. “Okay,” Hayner said slowly. “New first step. Figure out...whatever that is.”

“Have you checked out that old mansion outside town yet?” Pence asked. “There’s stories about weird stuff around there all the time.”

“Yeah...and this is pretty weird,” Olette agreed thoughtfully.

With an awkward cough, he stood. “Listen, thanks for the ice cream, but I’d better get going.”

“Sure thing. I hope you find what you’re looking for.” Olette waved.

As he opened the gate, he faintly heard Hayner’s voice. “What kind of guy can’t say his own name?”

“You’re one to talk. You can barely make a sentence in front of that girl from the candy store,” Pence countered.

“Hey, shut up!” The three of them laughed.

With a little smile, he emerged out into the alley. Maybe he would check out that old mansion...it wasn’t like he had any better ideas.

“They’ll never understand what you’re going through,” came a voice from down the alley.

He whirled toward the source of the noise, instincts suddenly on high alert. No, not instincts. Training. 

The source was a slim figure in a dark coat that reached his ankles. The hood of the coat was pulled low, obscuring his face. The figure began walking down the alley toward him. “I mean, how could they?”

His sword appeared in his hand in an instant, the hooked blade leveled squarely at the figure. “Who are you? What do you want?”

The figure showed no sign of flinching from his brandished blade. “Wow! That’s a pretty bad way to start a conversation.” The figure reached up and pulled his hood back, revealing a smirking face and a head of spiky, bright red hair. “The name’s Axel. Got it memorized?”

Axel reached out with a fingertip and nudged his blade aside. “But me? I get it. Believe me, I get it. You’re missing something. Something you need. You feel incomplete without it. But how can you find it without knowing what it is?”

Axel began idly pacing a few steps up and down the alley as he spoke. “But me and my friends? We know what you’re going through. We can help you find what you’re looking for. Why? Because we’re going through it too.”

Axel turned back to him and held out a hand. “The thirteen of us together can do more than any one of us on their own. So what do you say?”

He lowered his blade and his head along with it. He stared at the ground for a moment, turning over Axel’s proposal in his mind. Then he laughed.

Axel cocked his head, irritation flashing across his face. “Something funny?”

“It’s just...a mysterious man in black, holding out his hand and offering me everything I could ever want on a silver platter? It’s just too much.” His sword vanished and he turned back toward the alley exit. “Sorry, pal. No sale.”

“Have it your way,” Axel huffed, turning away and crossing his arms. When he almost reached the stairs, Axel called after him. “Oh, by the way...the thing you’re missing? It’s your heart. Got it memorized?”

He didn’t respond, merely walking away down the stairs.

“Sheesh,” Axel said to the empty alley. “Better tell Vexen we bagged another live one. Why can’t seducing somebody to the dark side ever be easy?” He sighed and disappeared into a corridor of darkness.

* * *

The old mansion outside of town was certainly that. There was no telling how long the place had been abandoned. No wonder this place fostered rumors and myths with the local kids. He reached out and idly rattled the padlock on the gates. No getting through there...he could scale the walls, maybe?

He turned and leaned back against the gate with a sigh. “At this rate, I’ll never see that door again…”

He put a hand to his chest. Was what that guy in the alley said was true? Was he really missing his heart? There was an organ in his chest that pumped blood through his body, certainly...but was there anything else? Did he feel anything inside?

Nothing. No remembered smiles from past jokes, no nostalgia for times gone by, not even pleasant sensations from that sea-salt ice cream. Nothing aside from that burning need to find his destiny.

He caught movement in the corner of his eye and reflexes took over. He drew both swords this time and whirled toward the source of the movement.

The twin hook swords were an ancient style passed on by his master in days gone by. Each blade ended in a vicious hook, and even the guards on the grip were sharpened. They were extremely versatile and difficult weapons to master. Some of his fragmented memories solidified into a whole as he remembered the honor he felt when his master awarded him these blades.

Remembered emotions, ones that rang hollow like a bell through his empty insides.

He shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. The source of the movement was a strange creature, which appeared to be an ambulatory jumpsuit, with a zipper for a mouth and a bizarre symbol stamped into the top of its head. It never seemed to stop moving, slithering and undulating in something akin to a dance. It danced in front of him for a few seconds. Several more creatures appeared next to it, forming a semicircle around him, surrounding him with the locked gate at his back.

He watched the first creature’s zipper mouth gradually open itself, revealing a mouth of jagged teeth. An eerie voice rattled through his skull.

_ We have come for you, my liege. _

With that, all the creatures slithered forward in unison, poised to strike.

But he had not spent those tense moments idle. He observed them carefully, watching for patterns in their movements and openings to exploit. When they moved, so did he, sliding around behind them, leaving them momentarily frozen in confusion. That was all the opening he needed. He struck at the nearest one, spinning and wrapping its sinewy legs around the hook at the end of his blade. He used the creature like a whip, swinging it across its mates, causing them all to burst into whisps of blue bubbles.

No sooner had he lowered his blade than another group of the creatures appeared, twice as many as the last. He gave his blades a little spin and resumed his stance. “Alright...if that’s the way this is going, then let’s have it.”

The writhing jumpsuit-like creatures were easy enough to defeat, though it looked to be that they were attempting to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. He was able to hold his own for a while, but he was stiff. Out of practice. These enemies were so foreign to his experience that each new wrinkle in the waves cost him dearly.

Suddenly a new type of creature appeared, leaping out from a portal in the wall by the gate. It managed to get behind him, assaulting him repeatedly with long, serrated blade-arms until he recoiled backward, falling to one knee in pain and exhaustion.

That was the only opening the creatures needed. They began piling themselves on top of him, wrapping around his limbs and forcing him to buckle underneath, falling to his hands and knees.

It was hopeless. There were too many. No matter how many he slew, twice as many would appear in an instant. How could it be over so quickly? How rude was it, to be offered even such a faint glimmer of hope only to have it snuffed out almost immediately?

A portal of darkness appeared not far away. A figure in a black coat stepped out, pulling his hood back to reveal a smug expression and spiky red hair.

“Still think you can do this all on your own?” Axel asked him.

“Go. Away,” he snarled through gritted teeth, trying to force himself to stand under the weight of the creatures.

Axel sighed and reached out a hand. In a whirl of bright flame, one of his chakrams spun into existence in his grip. With a casual toss, the chakram flew across the space, instantly eviscerating all the creatures subduing him. “See how much easier things are when you’ve got friends watching your back?”

With a few bounces off of other surfaces, the chakram returned to its owner’s hand. Axel turned and stepped back into the portal, but didn’t close it behind him.

He stood, panting heavily. His swords were slack in his grip, his shoulders sagging and barely able to move. He saw the choice laid out in front of him. A long, aimless, and lonely trek to who-knows-where to do who-knows what. No leads, no ideas, no nothing. Or...whatever was beyond that portal.

He stepped into the portal.

* * *

He donned the black cloak and covered his face in the hood. He stood in the center of Where Nothing Gathers, surrounded by the rest of Organization XIII sitting in chairs of varying heights. He stood, head bowed and arms folded, while the Superior spoke.

The Superior lifted his hands and pulled his own hood back, revealing long silver hair, yellow eyes and pointed ears. Xemnas, Number I, the Superior of the In-Between, looked down at the new Nobody.

“You seek answers,” Xemnas began.

“Yes,” he replied, head bowed.

“You feel nothing. Nothing is real.”

“Yes.”

“We can give you purpose.” Xemnas lifted a hand and moved it slowly, left to right. In the path of the movement, letters appeared. Spelling out his name. His old name. The one he couldn’t say anymore.

Xemnas made a harsh, swiping X motion with his hand now. That letter appeared in the midst of the rest. With another hand twirl, the letters rearranged themselves into a new name, one his lips could form. The mantle settled comfortably over him. A new name for the journey ahead. It would do, until the old one could be re-earned.

_ Xylonn. _

Xemnas continued as the letters vanished in a flash of light. “You are the Lost Ronin, ever seeking your destiny. But you wander no longer, having found a new home and liege lord:  _ Kingdom Hearts.  _ Arise, Number XIII, and take your place among us.”

Xylonn pulled his hood back, revealing a slim, sharp face, blue eyes, and slicked-back dark hair with two bangs that framed his face. He moved to the lowest chair and sat. It rose higher, taking its place among the rest.

“Now,” Xemnas said, leaning back in his chair, “our work can begin.”

_ Lost but Seeking _

_ With the Skill to Find the Path _

_ The Lost Ronin _

_ Number XIII _

_ Xylonn _


End file.
